Saturday, 23 November 2013

Carmen de los Geranios

The Carmen
of Geraniums has a nice little story. A Belgian painter, Max Moreau used to own
this house. Apart from the artist’s close circle of friends not many people
knew that he was in love with Granada and lived here for over 30 years. After
his death he left his home to the Town Hall who restored the building and
turned it to a museum. Their aim was not only to bring Max Moreau closer to the
visitors but also to preserve the carmen
as a typical Granadian heritage.

It has three
buildings. One is used as a gallery for the paintings, the other is the room
the artist worked in, and the third one was his living quarter.

With the
three buildings come three levels. The main level connects the gallery to the
living quarters. There’s a little platform to enjoy the view of the Alhambra
from that you can reach through a set of stairs. Finally there’s a backyard
with benches and a pond on the side. In front of the studio there’s a gorgeous
three tiered fountain.

Visiting the
Carmen de los Geranios is free. It’s open from Tuesday to Saturday: 10.00 to
13.30 h. and 16.00 to 18.00 h. On Sundays, Mondays and on holidays is closed. You
can find it on Calle Nueva de San Nicolás, 12.

I ventured
inside this carmen on a free photo
tour I found on the internet. My guide was a Spanish girl who spoke English
quite well. She didn’t overwhelm us with information but only taught us the
three most important things that we could practice and master during the tour.
I loved walking around Albayzín with the group and taking photos of everything
that took our fancy. You can find their website here.